Biogeochemistry of petroleum components at the sediment-water interface. Final report in resume form, 1 April 1977-31 December 1981
The biogeochemistry of hydrocarbons in benthic ecosystems has been investigated by experimentation and field observations. A recirculating benthic chamber with field deployment and on-land experimental capabilities has been designed, constructed, tested, and used in experimentation. A C-14 benzanthracene experiment was conducted in two benthic chambers. More than 97% of the C-14 activity introduced to the water column and remaining in the chamber after 42 days of the experiment was associated with the benthic ecosystem. HPLC separation showed that more than 90% of the C-14 activity in sediment extracts was present as metabolites or reaction products of benzanthracene. These data add to the growing evidence that metabolites and reaction products of higher-molecular-weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), some of which are mutagenic or carcinogenic, can persist for periods of weeks or months in benthic ecosystems. A comparison of PAH data from the New York Bight ecosystem, PAH data from northeast US coast surface sediments and bivalves shows a predominance of pyrogenic source PAH from fossil-fuel combustion in surface sediments but a predominance of petroleum source PAH in biota in ecosystems near urban areas. We hypothesize that this dichotomy results from the greater bioavailability of PAHl from petroleum inputs because of differences in physical-chemical forms of PAH from the two input sources.
- Research Organization:
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, MA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-77EV04256
- OSTI ID:
- 6423871
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/EV/04256-04; ON: DE83010035
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
AROMATICS
ATLANTIC OCEAN
BENTHOS
BENZANTHRACENE
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BIOGEOCHEMISTRY
BIOLOGICAL AVAILABILITY
CARBON 14
CARBON ISOTOPES
CHEMISTRY
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
CONDENSED AROMATICS
DATA
ENERGY SOURCES
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
EXPOSURE CHAMBERS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS
HYDROCARBONS
INFORMATION
INTERFACES
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
METABOLITES
NEW YORK BIGHT
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
RADIOISOTOPES
SEAS
SEDIMENT-WATER INTERFACES
SEDIMENTS
SURFACE WATERS
TRACER TECHNIQUES
UPTAKE
VARIATIONS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES